A couple of years ago, I got into my head to build a guitar with an aluminium T-beam as the main structural component. Back then, I imagined that it'd be pretty easy to build.

I'm not quite there yet. Not at all, actually. But I've improved as a craftsman and tried a number of things with guitars until now.

This is the continuing story of the many interesting detours I take on my way to making the T-beam guitar.

Monday, 9 February 2009

A magnetic pickup

Previously, I've talked much about piezo pickups. I had great expectations to piezo discs, because they would give me more freedom in construction, since I would avoid having to make room for traditional magnetic pickups. I still have expectations, but so far, I've not been successful in making or buying a suitable pre-amplifier. I've tried a couple of designs, but none have sounded very good so far.

For the sake of my own motivation, I took a little detour from the piezos and put a guitar humbucker on top of the strings. The distance between the two rows of pole pieces is 18 mm - exactly the distance of my strings. This makes it possible to mount it lengthwise over the strings. It gives acceptable sound, but the mounting bracket doesn't integrate well with the overall design idea of having a sleek stick for a bass.

On the other hand, it _does_ have a certain rustic honesty about it. And most important: now I can play the bass and get a decent tone, while I figure out if the neck should be a little thinner, rounder or narrower. As well as many other things.